[mwncigirl]

Hi! What do people use currently to combat red mite? We haven't had chooks for a while. And now we have the dreaded mite. Diatomaceous earth? Not sure we can get that here in France.  Any thoughts welcome.

[Anke]

Good old fashioned creosote, not the new stuff, but the older used for fences etc.

[Terry T]

If we get an infestation, I treat the house with insecticidal cleaner and rpt 6 days later to kill any hatched eggs and break the insect life cycle. I then use spot on ivermectin to kill anything that might be on the birds. I keep on top of the mites with regular cleaning and diatomaceous earth.

[Charlie1234]

Talking to a local farmer recently and he reckons he paints his shed inside every year with diesel and to date has had 0 problems with red mite.
He puts his birds in a different shed for a week or 2 until its dried out + the smell has gone.

Garlic juice mixed in the water is supposed to be good.

[Fleecewife]

We go for a mix - flame gun, creosote and diatomaceous earth (on hens and perches), with good success.


This evening while looking to buy biological controls for red spider mite on my cucumbers, I came across a site which offers a biological control for red mite in poultry. http://dragonfli.co.uk/ 
I've no idea if it's effective or not, but I've not seen this before so it caught my eye.

[SallyintNorth]

If we get an infestation, I treat the house with insecticidal cleaner and rpt 6 days later to kill any hatched eggs and break the insect life cycle. I then use spot on ivermectin to kill anything that might be on the birds. I keep on top of the mites with regular cleaning and diatomaceous earth.

Just be aware that egg withdrawal is 2 weeks minimum with ivermectin, and eggs from treated birds may never be sold.  Our vet reckoned you shouldn't ever eat their meat if you'd treated them with ivermectin.

[Steph Hen]

If we get an infestation, I treat the house with insecticidal cleaner and rpt 6 days later to kill any hatched eggs and break the insect life cycle. I then use spot on ivermectin to kill anything that might be on the birds. I keep on top of the mites with regular cleaning and diatomaceous earth.

Just be aware that egg withdrawal is 2 weeks minimum with ivermectin, and eggs from treated birds may never be sold.  Our vet reckoned you shouldn't ever eat their meat if you'd treated them with ivermectin.

Seems strange since it's used for humans as well   

[Charlie1234]

I have eaten the eggs + meat from ivermectin treated poultry for years,I allow 2 weeks for eggs and 28 days for meat. These were the times given me by my poultry vet. Hasn`t killed me yet so im guessing its ok 

[twizzel]

Best cure for red mite is to burn the house down and start again.

[mwncigirl]

Hmmm, we have a plastic house, it was a jigsaw so still lots of crevices. I've ordered some diatomaceous earth but I'm guessing I'll need some some chemical to go with it? So no creosote due to plastic.

[Fleecewife]

If you're not happy with using chemicals, which I'm not, did you see my comment about a predatory mite, below?

[harmony]

We have used "flea bombs" before to good use. Buy them from amazon. Fumigate then ventilate.

[harmony]

If we get an infestation, I treat the house with insecticidal cleaner and rpt 6 days later to kill any hatched eggs and break the insect life cycle. I then use spot on ivermectin to kill anything that might be on the birds. I keep on top of the mites with regular cleaning and diatomaceous earth.

Just be aware that egg withdrawal is 2 weeks minimum with ivermectin, and eggs from treated birds may never be sold.  Our vet reckoned you shouldn't ever eat their meat if you'd treated them with ivermectin.

Seems strange since it's used for humans as well   

Products are not necessarily quite the same even though they are sold under the same name when you use them on different animals. Spot On for cattle and sheep would not be good for your dog for example.

[landroverroy]

""Just be aware that egg withdrawal is 2 weeks minimum with ivermectin, and eggs from treated birds may never be sold.  Our vet reckoned you shouldn't ever eat their meat if you'd treated them with ivermectin.""


""Seems strange since it's used for humans as well    ""



""Products are not necessarily quite the same even though they are sold under the same name when you use them on different animals. Spot On for cattle and sheep would not be good for your dog for example.""



As you correctly point out Harmony - Spot on for dogs is a completely different product to Spot on as used on farm animals.
Ivomectin, however, is the generic term for a specific wormer and there is no confusion as to which wormer it is. So Ivomec as prescribed for humans (and it's taken orally) is the same product that you can use on poultry. Now I don't see how a few drops applied to a hen can possibly cause any effect on a human by the time it's gone though the hen's body. This dosage is negligible compared to the safe human dosage! And I certainly don't see how these few drops make said hen unfit for human consumption for the rest of its life.
I believe people make these sweeping statements about withdrawal periods because there has been insufficient research done on Ivermectin in poultry and the relevant information on withdrawal periods (if any) isn't available.



I personally put a couple of drops of Ivermectin on the top of the head/neck of affected birds, and carry on eating the eggs as usual. After all, I wouldn't be worried about a few drops landing on my skin, so why should I worry about any microscopic amount getting into the eggs?

[mwncigirl]

If you're not happy with using chemicals, which I'm not, did you see my comment about a predatory mite, below?

Hi fleecewife, the bio control seems to be for red spider mite. The solution for red mite in poultry is £45, and I only have 4 birds. I've just spent ££20 on diatomaceous earth!